I'm not stuck on Teflon

Wednesday

Several folks have been asking me if I use non-stick cookware. I have come to realize over the years that stainless steel is the best investment and the healthiest.

I never use non-stick cookware for many reasons. Pots and pans coated with Teflon – or any of the surfaces related to Teflon – are immensely popular.

Consumers in the U.S. spent roughly $1.2 billion on 159 million pots and pans last year, 60 percent of which were nonstick, according to figures from the Cookware Manufacturers Association.

“Nonstick has revolutionized America’s cooking habits over the past generation by letting consumers cook with much less oil and grease and by easing the cleanup chores associated with cooking,” said Hugh Rushing, vice president of the association. “Nonstick cookware is now mainstream for the majority of U.S. consumers. It’s found on high-end cookware as well as medium- and low-priced product.”

The essential non-stick ingredient is the same as it was when a DuPont Co. chemist discovered it in 1938. The waxy substance he scraped out of a freon cylinder turned out to be the most slippery substance in the world. Called polytetrafluorethylene, or PTFE, it consists of a chain of carbon atoms that are surrounded by fluorine atoms.

Dupont began manufacturing PTFE, trademarking it Teflon. In 1954, a French inventor figured out a way to bond Teflon to frying pans, and formed a company called Tefal, which evolved into T-Fal, a giant manufacturer of pans and other household appliances. The early non-stick pans didn’t hold up very well, however; they began flaking within months.

So Dupont and the few other companies that also make PTFE coatings began experimenting with additives to make PTFE stronger. About 15 years ago, PTFE compounds improved dramatically. Non-stick coatings now are enhanced with powders made out of ceramic, stainless steel or titanium, and the coatings are applied much more thickly.

Teflon is actually DuPont’s trademarked name for Tetrafluoroethylene which is found most commonly in non-stick cookware. Polytetraflouethylene, or PTFE, is not only found in the fumes of Teflon products, but other brands of products.

Like carbon monoxide, PTFE is odorless and invisible. It travels through the air unnoticed. In humans PTFE causes flu-like symptoms; in birds PTFE kills. While non-stick pots offer convenience in cooking, it does appear that there are serious dangers associated with the use of non-stick cookware.

As recent as May 10, 2006, a complaint was filed in federal district court in Iowa that alleges that DuPont (the manufacturer of Teflon non-stick cookware coating) knew that the non-stick pans were unsafe to use at certain temperatures and that the company failed to warn the public about the dangers. The plaintiffs are asking that DuPont be forced to cough up the profits they’ve made off of Teflon, which could add up to $5 billion.

Scientific studies have found that Teflon’s key chemical, called PFOA, is linked to cancer and organ damage in laboratory animals and that it is in the blood at low levels of almost all Americans.

DuPont has already paid more than $100 million to settle lawsuits brought by residents who live near a Teflon plant in West Virginia. When Teflon cookware gets overheated, starting around 500 degrees, the mix of chemicals that is given off by the pans can make people sick with what is known as the ‘Teflon flu.’

Symptoms for the flu include headache, chills, backache and a fever of 100 to 104 degrees. DuPont insists that cookware coated with Teflon is safe when used properly and under normal cooking conditions. I am not a scientist nor a chemist, I am a chef.

What I am advocating is that why use a product that may be of some harm to you? Are the possible risks worth the temporary convenience? I have never had a non-stick pot or pan in the past that did not show some evidence of flaking.

Even if there were no possible side effects of non-stick cookware, from an investment point of view, to me it is not the wisest investment one can make. I suggest that replacing non-stick cookware with a set of stainless-steel cookware is the wisest thing to do in the kitchen.

2 pound beef fillet mignon

kosher or sea salt

3 tablespoons French whole grain mustard

6 thin slices pancetta

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Trim off any fat from the beef. Rub the fillet with salt and then coat evenly with the mustard. Wrap the pancetta slices around the fillets, covering it completely and tying them in place with kitchen string. Place in a roasting pan.

Roast for 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven to a cutting board. Snip and remove the string and thickly slice the fillet. Arrange the slices on a platter and serve immediately.

Makes six servings

Neil Thibodaux is Chef Nino. He lived in Italy for 13 years and now conducts local Italian language and cooking classes and in-home cooking parties. He can be e-mailed at friendsofitaly@yahoo.com.

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